ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the different philosophies/principles, systems, structures, strategies and practices that constitute the 'youth justice' developed to tackle youth offending. It focuses on two specific dichotomies that have underpinned youth justice objectives historically: care versus control and welfare versus justice. The chapter offers an explanation of the youth justice structures, systems, strategies and practices introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and how they cohered around the central aim of prevention to re-construct youth justice. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 set out a range of new youth justice processes and practices to be employed by staff in Youth Offending to prevent offending by 10–17 year olds. Under New Labour, young people from the age of 10 were viewed as fully responsible for their offending behaviour and youth offending was constructed as a product of rational choice and immorality.
